I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the many people, present and past, who have helped in launching this, the inaugural e-edition of Running and Walking for Women Over 40. First to my agent Stephany Evans (a dedicated Over-Forty runner herself), of Fine Print Literary Management, as we strike out together in this and many other adventures. Next, to Sarah Masterson Hally, my calm and kind Production Manager at Diversion Books, as well as the fine Diversion team including Mary Cummings, Editorial Director, and Brielle Benton, Marketing and Publicity Associate. Ongoing appreciation goes to my personal executive Lisa Barnard Kelley for handling many of the electronic technicalities with this book as well as many details of my life. Thanks always to age-group enthusiast I.W. Barkis, PhD., for his astute scientific input; to Ken Greer, M. D., for medical updating and advice; to Nikki Slade Robinson, for help with illustrations; and to Rachel Sturtz, freelance writer for Running Times, Runners World and other publications for her fine overseeing of the shoes, bras and apparel charts.
This e-book is an updated version of the original Running and Walking for Women Over 40 that was first published in 1998. When this book was first proposed in 1996, it was not an easy sell: women’s running and walking was a small sport, and for those over forty, smaller still. Today, that book has become a quiet best seller, and women’s running and walking have become mainstream to the point where they are now a movement with a multi-billion dollar industry trajectory that is transforming society. Amazingly, there are now more women runners than men in the United States—55%. Significantly, those runners and walkers over forty are helping to redefine health and aging. After this updated version as an e-book, I suspect there will be many more updates as this movement continues to soar so wonderfully.
Over the past seventeen years since the first version of this book was published, many people from many countries have helped enormously with the subsequent various international editions. Editors, publishers, agents, publicists, advisors, photographers, runners, walkers and friends have all contributed in many different ways that have led to this e-edition and I thank you for your continuing support, expertise and enthusiasm.
As I go through all your names, it is like reliving history. A lot has changed in seventeen years! Some of you, sadly, have passed away. We’ve all become older and wiser, but not one of us has lost our enthusiasm and belief in the power of movement. There would be hundreds of you to list now, so let me say thank you to you all (you know who you are!) but especially to Jane Kagan Vitiello and Greg Vitiello, who were there from the beginning and still are; to my ever-supporting and wonderful family of Switzers and Robinsons, and especially and eternally to my husband, Roger Robinson, Ph.D., whose talent, loyalty, wit, and love never cease to inspire me.